Artificial Food Dyes Impact Children's Behavior; California Senator Wants Parents Warned

artificial food dyes food ingredients food coloring behavior of children Sen. Bob Wieckowski Lisa Lefferts Center for Science in the Public Interest Cleveland clinic adhd junk food Seattle Children’s Research Institute

By Lilian Scott , Parent Herald Dec 22, 05:35 pm

Photo: (Photo : David Paul Morris/Getty Images)

Since 2017, California Sen. Bob Wieckowski has been working to pass a bill that will require all food packaging to have a proper label disclosing the types of artificial food dyes used in the ingredients to warn parents about what they buy for their kids.

Now, the senator is hoping that his bill on proper labels would be passed in 2022 so that it is implemented in 2023, amid growing concerns that artificial food dyes greatly impact the behavior of children.

Wieckowski clarified that his proposal is "not a ban on food dyes" but he has been baffled as to why these ingredients are kept from consumers' knowledge like a secret. Wieckowski believes that parents need to be educated and empowered on this crucial nutritional choice for the kids, given that there have been countless studies connecting the children's challenging behaviors to these artificial ingredients.

What's Wrong with Artificial Food Dyes?

Like the senator, scientist Lisa Lefferts of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has been calling on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ban or revoke artificial food dyes because of its risk in children for years. She said that food dyes have no nutritional value but these are mainly used to make food look more palatable for the kids who are still choosy when it comes to what they eat.

Sheela Sathyanarayana of the Seattle Children's Research Institute said that food dyes contain many additives like sugar, which explains why it could affect a child's behavior. In their studies, children who were not exposed to food with artificial ingredients tend to present less anger, irritability, aggressiveness, moodiness and impulsivity.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, one study in Australia showed that parents who cut foods with common artificial dye ingredients like Blue 1, Yellow 5 or Yellow 6 reported a 75 percent improvement in their kids' behavior and attention. Basically, food coloring is considered junk food and doctors advise avoiding its ingestion as much as possible.

Why No Ban from the FDA

"I think if American consumers understood that food dyes can really wreak havoc on children, they might not be so attached to having them," Lefferts said. So, the scientist has been hoping that Wieckowski's bill will become a big deal.

However, according to NBC News, U.S. hasn't been quick to ban or at least limit artificial food dyes despite decades of studies of its harm in kids. In 2016, the FDA used a different approach by just partially banning some additives that may cause cancer despite urging from the CSPI.

The agency refused to ban food dyes or food coloring because they said the evidence against it are inconclusive. Some of the studies indicate that not all kids are sensitive to food dyes but children with ADHD tend to exhibit more negative reactions.

Unfortunately for parents, dyes are found in almost all foods loved by children, such as juices, ice creams, jello snacks, boxed dinners or breakfast cereals. Since it cannot be avoided, medical experts advised cutting foods with so much color load to less than 100 milligrams a day.